Swan Song: An alternative ending
by giacinta
Summary: I have always intensely disliked Swan Song. It depresses me to the extreme, so I decided to write my own ending. Chapter Three:- Dean sits with Sam at the hospital. Rated T for FF Site precaution.
1. Chapter 1

Swan Song. An alternative ending.

X

* * *

X

Dean didn't know how he had managed to hold his emotions in check while Sam explained his little plan for pushing the Devil back

into the Cage; of how he would let Lucifer in and then throw himself into the Pit of Despair for all eternity.

He had listened silently to Sam's guilt trip about everything being his fault and how Lucifer had been freed because of his

stupidity; of how he had to make amends and take his punishment for what he had done.

X

If ever Dean Winchester merited an Oscar for his acting, it would have been for those moments in Bobby's yard as he listened to

his brother.

Sam seemed calm but Dean could hear the underlying tremor of fear in his little brother's voice as he talked and Dean's heart

grew hard and pitiless against those who had driven his brother to such a terrible decision.

His whole essence was screaming, "No! Never! No!" but he kept his face impassive and did his best to give Sam the impression

that he was going along with his plan

X

Dean was furious but not with Sam, never with Sammy, because he and Sam were a team; brothers, and he understood him

better than he did himself; Sam WAS himself, as much a part of him as his arm or his leg or his heart and there was no way he

was going to let his little brother jump into that Cage with Lucifer.

X

Dean had intimately experienced the horrors of Hell; the agony, the desperation, the hopelessness, the psychological tortures

tailored to hurt even more than the physical ones. He had been there, and he knew that while there was breath in his body,

Sammy wasn't going to suffer it.

He was Dean's responsibility and whether he be seven or twenty-seven, a skinny kid or a giant sasquatch, it made no difference;

he was not going to be the sacrificial lamb for the little master-plan of a worthless bunch of angels and demons.

X

He kept an impassive face with the others too, somehow seeing them in a different light, inordinately irritated by their easy

acceptance of Sam's extreme decision, as if they subconsciously believed that that it was exclusively his little brother's fault, and

that it was fair and just that he should be the only one to pay for it.

X

Bobby's words especially, had hurt him; surely he should have known better than to ask him if he was "more afraid of losing or of

losing his brother?" Dean's great acting skills had stopped him from gawking openly at Bobby.

Did the older hunter not know him?

Dean didn't care a damn about losing, but he cared passionately about not losing his brother.

X

He understood Castiel better, although he agreed with nothing that the angel believed. While Castiel manifested sympathy for

Sam, Dean was well aware that he had always looked down on him as an abomination; a human tainted with demon blood;

designed as a vessel for Lucifer.

From the angel's point of view, Sam jumping into the Cage with the Devil to stop the Apocalypse, was a sacrifice that was

eminently acceptable.

X

As for Crowley, he could exhibit that friendly face as much as he wished, but Dean didn't need to have an Honours degree in

Psychology to know that the Demon was only in it for his own gain.

He was a demon, for God's sake; but at least you knew where you stood with him.

He wanted Lucifer out of the way so he could be the Big Kahuna in Hell.

Understandable from his point-of-view but for Dean completely unimportant. He didn't care in the least who was King of Hell!

X

So Dean passed the rest of the day as a yes man, outwardly approving all the plans that were being made to efficiently condemn

his little Sammy to eternal torment, while working on his own agenda to do the exact opposite.

X

He had hoped to have been able to avoid that Sam accepted Lucifer into himself, but his best idea to save Sammy and put the cat

amongst the pigeons as far as the Apocalypse was concerned, unfortunately hinged on that.

His plan was simple, so simple that it seemed too easy, but if it didn't come off and Sam did end up in the Cage, then Dean would

be right behind him. Before he himself had been pulled out of Hell, he had already been on the road to becoming a demon, having

taken Alastair's razor in his hand. So if he did end up with his brother in the Cage, he had no reserves about becoming a fully-

fledged one if it could be of help to his brother and if that happened, he would take out his revenge for all that had been done to

the Winchesters.

God help the Supernatural world if Dean Winchester became embodied with demon powers. He was no saint like Sammy was!

X

X

X

Sam had gone to the appointment in Stull Cemetery as convened and Dean had made his preparations to get his brother back.

He and the Impala roared into the graveyard to rhythm of Rock of Ages, disturbing the little angel/ devil get together.

X

He looked into his little brother's eyes as Lucifer turned his glare on him, but the expression in those puppy-eyes was not Sam's.

X

"What do you want Dean?" Lucifer asked, surprised at his presence. "I left you alive as a gift to Sam but if you become too

annoying I will be forced to revise my decision."

X

Dean once more gave free rein to his acting chops, as he answered. "I only came to give my brother one last embrace before this

battle, for whether you win or lose Lucifer, I may never see him again."

"You have already said your good-byes, Dean. I have no patience left for your delaying tactics."

"I promise that If you let me have one last good-bye with Sam, I will turn and leave and I won't ever give you any trouble again.

It seems small thing to ask for such a big promise on my part," Dean pleaded, a grief-stricken expression on his face.

X

" Lucifer," Michael's voice rang out impatiently. "Give the human what he wants and let's get on with this."

X

"Dean, Dean, the things I do for Sammy!" Lucifer sighed, in the pseudo- friendly way he had. "Come, let's get this over with,

then."

X

Dean came forward, eyes and body-language duly miserable; a perfect image of a man desperate to give his brother one last hug

before losing him.

X

"Sammy, I'm sorry " he whispered as he put an arm round his little brother's neck, and pushed an angel sword through his body.

His hate –filled eyes met the surprised ones of Lucifer as his angel essence illuminated Sam's body from the inside, culminating in

the Devil's death.

X

Dean carefully extracted the weapon from Sam's body. He had tried to do as little damage as possible, and he hoped he had

avoided any vital organs. He culled Sam to himself uncaring of the astounded expressions of the three onlookers who stood there,

unsure of what they had just witnessed

X

"Dean', Sam's voice whispered weakly. "What happened?"

"Shh, little brother, you'll be fine. We've got to get you to an hospital pronto. Don't worry. Big brother's here," Dean soothed as he

pulled a wad from his jacked and pushed down on the wound.

X

As if his ginormous little brother weighed no more than a feather, Dean picked him up gently and laid him in the Impala, ignoring

the others, and driving away from the cemetery.

X

He didn't want to hear or give explanations. He had what he wanted, Sam, and nobody was going to get near him again.

His brother would be seen to in hospital, by human doctors. He wanted no more favours from the supernatural world.

If by any chance Sam didn't pull through, well Dean wouldn't be long in joining him wherever he went!

X

XXXX The enD XXXX


	2. Chapter 2

Thanks to everyone who reviewed and to the "guests" too. :)

X

Swan Song: - An alternative ending.

X

Chapter Two

X

Dean sat by the hospital bed, his callused hands clasping his brother's. Luckily enough he had calculated the angle of the blade and had avoided injury to any major organs, but his little brother was dosed up to the gills with pain-killers and antibiotics after the surgery to repair the lacerated internal tissues.

For the Gigantor that he was, his brother looked so small and vulnerable lying there and Dean was touched by just what Sammy had been willing to sacrifice to stop the Apocalypse.

Dean's heart always broke into a thousand pieces when Sammy was ill or injured but he could take this over what would have been the alternative. Images of Sam being hacked to pieces and tortured in the most horrible ways just wouldn't get out of his mind. They weren't just imagination; they came from his atrocious personal experience, for he had suffered those self-same tortures for forty long years in Hell.

Playing the torturer instead of the victim for those last few years had been really only another method of torment, especially for him whose motto had always been saving people, not skinning them alive or hacking them to pieces!

X

He was perfectly content sitting here at Sam's side; this was the only place he desired to be. When his little brother opened his eyes Dean wanted to be the first person that he saw in order to soothe his fears and comfort him; not some unknown nurse or doctor, however sympathetic they might be.

Oh, the staff had tried to pry him away from his brother's side but they had desisted at the stubborn look on Dean's face. He was staying here until Sam got out, no matter how long it took. There might still be douche-bags out there who could want to harm him while he was lying here helpless.

X

He had gone to Stull Cemetery to kill Lucifer but he hadn't really been sure that his plan was going to work, although if it hadn't then he was going in along with Sam. His little brother was the only reason he lived and fought on; without him there would have been no motive to remain on Earth, and for what he had seen of Heaven they could keep it!

It would have been worse than Hell for him there without Sam, knowing that while he was drinking a beer in Ash's heavenly road-house, his little brother was being ripped to shreds by Lucifer.

X

He shuddered, letting go of his brother's hand for a moment as he rushed to the bathroom, the acid vomit invading his gullet at the continual pictures of what could have been his Sammy's fate.

A few minutes later he exited the toilet holding a wet towel to his face, but all thoughts of the Cage left his mind as his eyes fell on the figure standing at the other side of Sam's bed.

"Get away from him, "Dean snarled, fiercer than any she-wolf defending its young.

X

"Dean. You are angry!" The angel cocked his head to the side as if trying to understand. "You saved your brother and stopped the Apocalypse; you should be happy. I can cure him if you wish," said Castiel as he reached out a hand.

X

"I said get away from him. He doesn't need your insta-cure. If he's still here with me now, it's no thanks to you or your feathery friends. I don't want to talk about it, so get out."

"Dean…."

X

"No excuses!" He hissed, his voice low and deadly, "Everyone of you was quite happy with Sam's sacrificial-lamb plan to take all the blame on his shoulders and suffer for everyone! All of you; Death, Crowley, your two-faced angel buddies, and although it breaks my heart to say it even Bobby, whom I had thought would have been as set on stopping Sam as I was.

So yes! I AM angry and the only thing I want to concern myself about now is seeing my brother on his feet again, so go back to wherever it is you usually hang out and leave us alone."

X

"Dean, your brother's plan was a noble one, no one forced him to do it, but it was honourable of him to want to put the Devil back in the Cage. After all he was the one who let him out," said Castiel incautiously.

Dean's temper which was already at the red-alert level went into overdrive as he circled the bed and grabbed the trench-coated angel by his lapels,

X

"Now you listen here and go tell it to your douchey friends. My little brother is the innocent in this whole miserable little story. He asked for none of it, not Azazel, not the demon-blood not all the lies that were told to him by everyone, especially that bitch Ruby. He didn't deserve any of it, okay! So shut up!"

X

The angel's face took on a guilty expression for a moment, somewhat unusual for a visage that rarely showed any emotion.

But Dean was a master at picking up on facial nuances; it was part of his job description.

X

"What aren't you telling me Cas?" he demanded suspiciously, as the angel averted his eyes.

Castiel could have beaten Dean to a pulp in an instant if he had wanted to, but when he turned his glance back to the human, the sheer power that emanated from Dean's eyes made him shiver.

Dean had killed the Devil against all odds.

Lucifer could be killed by an angel blade although usually the vessel died too, but Sam had survived. Cas now believed that the absent God had not been so absent at all at Stull Cemetery. If this were so, then Dean and Sam Winchester were more enigmatic than he had believed, if God himself who had not answered anyone's prayers, not even the Winchesters themselves when they visited Heaven, had disturbed his exile to help Dean save his brother.

X

Cas stared at Dean in awe. He was truly Heaven's weapon.

"I said, what are you not telling me Cas?" Dean's voice was colder than the Antarctic winds that whipped across the bleak landscape of that white continent.

X

Castiel confessed to what he had done, the words coming out of his mouth almost of their own volition.

"When Sam was in the panic room, I was the one who let him out, to go and free Lucifer" There he had said it.

X

Dean let go of his coat and stepped back, a sneer on his lips. "Well, well, well," he smirked. "The truth is starting to come out, eh? How everyone was in on making my Sammy the scapegoat for having let Lucifer out.

"Et tu, Brute!" You should read Shakespeare's Julius Caesar when you go back to Heaven, Cas. I'm sure you would enjoy it. Now get the Hell out of here while you still can!"

X

Dean turned his back on the angel and circled the bed, where he sat down in the chair next to Sam and took his brother's hand in his own.

Sam's closed eye-lids fluttered and he sighed softly as if the touch of his brother had been received and understood. Dean was oblivious to all but the figure on the bed. He wasn't going to waste his time going over who had done what.

His little brother had been betrayed by everyone, even by himself, and as soon as he was out of here, he was going to track down Sam's amulet, and he would get it back even if he had to sift through months of smelly trash.

He owed it to him, and he wanted that ugly little thing back round his neck where nine-year old Sammy had watched him put it all those years ago. At that moment Dean Winchester couldn't have been happier. He was holding the most important thing in the universe in his two hands.

X

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX


	3. Chapter 3

Many thanks to all who read and reviewed and to "Guest Sarah" and my other "Guest" reviewer. :)

X

This is dedicated to "Pandora Jazz" who specifically asked for a "Sam waking-up" chapter, though it's probably more Bobby than Sam. Hope you like. :)

X

Swan Song

X

Chapter Three

X

Dean's head fell drowsily on to the starched bedcover, his brother's hand securely clasped in his own. He had been here for two days straight now; forty-eight hours of keeping vigil over his unconscious little brother. The doctors had assured him that Sam could awaken at any time and he hadn't wanted to leave his side in case he freaked out at not seeing him when he opened his eyes.

Dean didn't see any of this as a chore; his place was right here. He didn't understand the why or the how or the wherefore, but there wasn't anywhere else he wanted to be. It was all perfectly logical to him. Sam was his responsibility and he was Sam's. They looked after each other. End of story.

He couldn't imagine them ever living a different life to a hunting one, but even if one day that should happen and others were to come into their lives, in ultimate analysis it would always boil down to Dean and Sam, Sam and Dean!

"Soul-mates share the same Heaven," Ash had stated on their visit to his solitary Road-House Heaven, and he and Sam had exchanged embarrassed glances, knowing full well that the soul-mates the computer genius was referring to, was them.

X

Sam stirred fretfully, his body on its path to consciousness, distracting Dean's mind from his thoughts.

He heard a noise outside the door of the room and he wearily raised his head to greet whoever of the medical staff had come to fuss around his brother, but the person who came through the door was a well–known face.

X

"Dean," Bobby nodded matter-of-factly as he entered the room. "How is he?"

Dean had had forty-eight hours of free time to do nothing else but review the whole Stull Cemetery affair, and the red-hot anger that had filled him had cooled a little, now that he was certain that Sam would recover.

"Bobby." Dean acknowledged, waiting for the older man to speak first.

"I would have come sooner but I got a visit from your angel buddy telling me that I'd be better waiting a while before facing the "lion in his den," I believe is what he said.

Dean was torn between his love and respect for Bobby and his memory of the easy way he had gone along with Sam's crappy idea of spending the rest of eternity in the Cage but Sammy was safe now and there was no point in taking it out on the older man.

It had been, was and always would be Dean's job to look after Sam and he couldn't really expect anyone else to feel as fiercely as he did for his brother.

X

Dean turned his attention back to the figure in the bed. "He's gonna be okay. Luckily enough the sword didn't perforate anything that couldn't be patched up. He should be waking up soon, or so they've told me."

"You wanna go get a coffee or a bite to eat. I'll keep watch over sleeping beauty here for you," Bobby offered knowing that nothing would tear Dean away from his brother's side until he saw him awake and talking.

If there was anything that Dean and Bobby shared it was their dislike of chick-flicky moments but Bobby knew that this thing between him and Dean would be hanging in the air unspoken if it wasn't thrashed out.

As if Dean had read his mind, he said "It's okay, Bobby. You don't have to explain. We can just put it all behind us. Sam's gonna be alright and that's all that matters to me now."

Devil of a boy, Bobby thought to himself. He's a psychic now too!

X

"Why didn't you say anything, boy? Why didn't you just say no to what your brother was planning? We would have tried to come up with somethin' else."

Dean smiled ironically. "Everyone sure seemed okay with Sammy's little idea and I went along with it because I knew I would never have let Sam do it anyway. I thought my crappy little plan would have more chance of success if I was the only one in on it. No offence, but a secret is such only if you don't tell anyone else. Sammy's life and after-life was at stake here and I was taking no chances of any details getting out. So I pretended to agree with everything that was said; just for show."

X

"Well, you certainly fooled us all. We thought you were good to go with Sam's plan. Great acting boy; though I gotta say that you couldn't be certain that your plan would've worked. What if you'd killed Lucifer and Sam had died too, which is what usually happens with a vessel."

"Dean shrugged his shoulders unconcernedly. "For whatever reason, it worked, but if my little scheme had gone wrong and Sam had ended up in the Cage with Lucifer then there would have been one very pissed Devil and two Winchesters in the Cage along with him. If Sammy had gone down, he wouldn't have gone down alone. Even in the Cage he would have needed his big brother to give him a basic course of "How to survive in Hell 101"

Bobby looked at him incredulously. "You would have jumped in after your brother?"

"You really think I would have stayed behind and lived out the rest of my life knowing what was being done to Sam. Maybe you don't know me as well as you think," Dean answered with a touch of hostility, turning a glare on the older hunter.

Bobby just stared at him, shaking his head slowly. "No, boy, maybe I don't!"

X

X

The squeak of the door opening coincided with Sam's return to consciousness. He wanted to open his eyes but his eye-lids seemed to weigh a ton and they wouldn't collaborate with his wishes. He knew that Dean was at his side. No need for open eyes there, as his big brother had his hand solidly clasped between his own. His eyes could open whenever they were ready. Dean was sitting by his side and that's all that mattered.

His ears were back to normal however and he listened in as Bobby began to talk.

He had wondered what the Hell was going on when Dean had asked Lucifer to embrace him for one last time and he had sensed the Devil's utter surprise as the angel blade had penetrated his angelic essence. Sam had felt the excruciating pain of the blade pierce his body but then he had fallen into blessed unconsciousness.

He wasn't quite sure exactly what had happened but he was certain that he was going to find out soon.

Dean had killed Lucifer. The fallen angel could conceivably be killed with the angelic blade but surely he should have died too, or maybe not! Whatever had happened, Lucifer was dead and he was alive, and he had Dean to thank for that.

X

"….but if my plan had gone wrong and Sam had ended up in the Cage with Lucifer…..then he wouldn't have gone down alone….."jumped in after your brother"…. "You really think I would have stayed behind and lived out the rest of my life knowing what was being done to Sam."

What was Dean saying, Sam wondered to himself, as he zoned in on snippets of his and Bobby's conversation?

X

He would have jumped in after me! He felt the panic rising in his chest at the thought. Dean had already suffered in Hell for him. Once was enough.

"No..." Sam said, his voice coming out as a whisper but it was loud enough to get Dean's attention.

"Sammy," Dean whispered in the voice he kept for when Sam was injured, the same tone he had used since Sam could remember understanding it.

X

Bobby took his cue. He knew that the moment was exclusive to the two brothers and he quietly exited the room.

X

"Sammy," Dean repeated again brushing back the sticky hair from his brother's face." You with me, bro?"

"Present and accounted for," Sam slurred, his brother's touch soothing him.

"I heard what you said to Bobby," Sam continued tiredly.

"I said a lot of things to Bobby; anything in particular?" Dean joked. Now that his brother was awake, his cockiness had started to make a tentative return.

"About jumping into the Cage after me. You know I never wanted you to do that. I wanted you to go and have a good life with Lisa, "Sam replied tackily, his tongue feeling enormous in his mouth.

"I get it that Bobby might not know everything about me but I thought my Stanford, geeky, genius little brother did," smirked the elder.

"Dean…!"

X

Sam didn't have to hear Dean's words confirming what he would have done. It was exactly what he had been trying to avoid. There had been no point in both of them suffering the same fate.

But just in case Sam didn't get it Dean made it very clear. "If you had finished up in the Cage you would have had company and if you had been killed along with Lucifer you would still have had company because a gun to the head does the job. You go, I go little brother!"

"And where you go, I go too, Dean" was Sam's whispered reply, as his long fingers wrapped themselves around his big brother's hand.

X

XXXXXXXXXXXXX


End file.
